Jay Bavisi is the Co-Founder and President of EC-Council, a corporation specializing in info safety schooling, coaching, and certification. Established in response to the cybersecurity challenges highlighted by the occasions of 9/11, EC-Council focuses on addressing cyber terrorism and associated safety considerations on a world scale. The group is understood for creating certification applications reminiscent of Licensed Moral Hacker (C|EH), Laptop Hacking Forensic Investigator (C|HFI), Safe Analyst (E|CSA), and Licensed Penetration Tester (L|PT).
Bavisi performed a task in growing a partnership with the Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations company, by way of the Worldwide Multilateral Partnership In opposition to Cyber Threats (IMPACT). This collaboration aimed to reinforce info safety consciousness and capabilities throughout 194 member international locations.
You launched EC-Council within the wake of 9/11 with a mission to construct world cybersecurity resilience. Are you able to share the story behind that founding second and what motivated you to dedicate your profession to securing the digital world?
Within the aftermath of 9/11, it turned painfully clear that safety needed to evolve. We had been not simply guarding borders. We had been immediately uncovered in methods we hadn’t totally grasped, particularly within the digital world. I noticed that the subsequent frontier of battle and resilience was our on-line world. It was a wake-up name for governments, companies, and people across the globe.
That second turned the start line for EC-Council. We noticed a crucial hole. There merely weren’t sufficient skilled professionals who may shield our digital infrastructure. So, we got down to create a world pressure of moral hackers; professionals who may suppose like adversaries however act with integrity to defend and safe.
That concept gave delivery to the Licensed Moral Hacker certification (CEH).It was radical on the time. We weren’t simply educating instruments or methods. We had been instilling a mindset. We had been saying, learn to break issues so you understand how to guard them.
Over time, CEH turned a world customary. However what really drives me isn’t just how far we’ve come, however what number of lives, companies, and governments we’ve helped shield.
What began as a response to tragedy has turn out to be a lifelong dedication to constructing digital resilience. That mission nonetheless guides every thing we do right this moment.
With over 350,000 cybersecurity professionals in your community, what modifications have you ever seen within the skillsets most in demand right this moment—particularly post-ChatGPT and generative AI?
Cybersecurity has all the time been a race towards time. However with the explosion of generative AI, led by instruments like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the complete panorama has been reengineered. What used to take hours of handbook effort can now be achieved in seconds with precision and scale. The accessibility of those AI instruments has democratized capabilities that had been as soon as restricted to elite menace actors. Now, anybody with a keyboard and curiosity can automate assaults, manipulate information, or impersonate identities at scale.
Let’s be clear: OpenAI didn’t create cybercrime. However its applied sciences together with these from different main AI labs have supercharged what’s attainable, for each defenders and attackers. The twin-use nature of generative AI means we’re residing in a world the place innovation and exploitation transfer in lockstep.
This shift has raised the bar for each cybersecurity skilled. It’s not sufficient to know primary safety rules. At present, professionals should understand how AI works, how it may be exploited, and the way it modifications the assault floor. Expertise like adversarial machine studying, immediate injection detection, and purple teaming with AI-based instruments are rapidly changing into core competencies.
We noticed this transformation mirrored within the CEH Risk Report. The information was clear menace actors are adapting quick. Our group should be taught even sooner.
At EC-Council, we’ve constructed a tradition round upskilling. From foundational certifications just like the Licensed Cybersecurity Technician to AI specialised applications like CEH and CPENT, we’re enabling learners to constantly construct and sharpen their capabilities.
In cybersecurity, there is no such thing as a end line. Those that decide to evolving, questioning, and studying are those who will form the way forward for digital protection. Upskilling is not about staying aggressive. It’s about staying related and staying prepared.
What makes the AI-powered CEH (Licensed Moral Hacker) certification uniquely positioned to handle present and future threats?
The Licensed Moral Hacker certification has turn out to be synonymous with belief within the cybersecurity trade. When organizations search for professionals who can shield their programs proactively, CEH is the credential they depend on. It’s acknowledged by the U.S. Division of Protection and adopted by 1000’s of employers worldwide, not only for its technical rigor, however as a result of it represents readiness, resilience, and real-world relevance.
What makes CEH stand out right this moment is the way it has developed to handle a brand new class of threats powered by synthetic intelligence. In its newest model, CEH doesn’t simply point out AI as a future concern. It brings it into the center of the training expertise. Learners work together with AI-driven adversaries in simulated environments. They’re uncovered to over 550 assault methods, a lot of which now mirror how actual attackers are utilizing automation, machine studying, and artificial content material to interrupt into programs.
CEH is designed to arrange professionals for what they may face, not simply what’s written in textbooks. It follows a full-cycle method: Study-Certify-Interact-Compete framework. That journey creates muscle reminiscence, strategic pondering, and instinctive responses.
In a world the place cyber threats are evolving by the hour, CEH is greater than a certification. It’s a sign to employers that you’re not solely skilled however ready. And in cybersecurity, that type of belief is every thing.
How does EC-Council’s method to coaching differ when making ready professionals to defend towards AI-generated threats or to safe AI programs themselves?
We’re getting into a cybersecurity period the place threats should not solely extra advanced but in addition more and more autonomous. Defenders should now be able to counter assaults launched by clever programs that adapt, be taught, and evolve. At EC-Council, we’ve reimagined our coaching to mirror this actuality. We don’t put together learners for yesterday’s challenges. We put together them for what comes subsequent.
In CEH and CPENT learners are immersed in environments the place adversaries use AI to imitate human habits, automate breaches, and dynamically regulate their techniques. These should not educational workout routines. They’re real-world simulations designed to sharpen instincts, not simply understanding. Professionals learn to defend programs that suppose and the best way to safe AI itself.
We additionally consider that expertise shouldn’t be confined by geography. By means of world initiatives just like the Licensed Cybersecurity Technician Scholarship Program , we’re making these alternatives accessible to aspiring professionals in underserved areas. The objective is to construct a tradition of safety, globally.
This imaginative and prescient is powered by a sturdy ecosystem. EC-Council Studying , the world’s largest on-line cybersecurity library, offers on-demand entry to 1000’s of bite-sized classes, up to date constantly to mirror the most recent threats, instruments, and vulnerabilities. Whether or not you might be studying the best way to counter AI-generated assaults or brushing up on SOC procedures, ECL helps professionals keep prepared; anytime, wherever.
EC-Council College (ECCU) shapes the subsequent technology of cybersecurity leaders with a powerful basis in educational and executive-level data. EGS presents strategic enterprise options that assist organizations construct mature cyber protection frameworks.
After which there’s the Hackerverse CTF our world cyber competitors platform the place data meets stress. Individuals face off in red-versus-blue group battles, simulating real-time breaches, defending mission-critical programs, and dealing collaboratively to neutralize threats. It’s greater than a contest. It’s a proving floor that builds resilience, creativity, and the power to carry out when it issues most.
That is how we put together professionals to satisfy the longer term. With data that’s present, environments which can be immersive, and platforms that encourage motion. Cybersecurity is not only a profession. It’s a calling, and our mission is to equip the world’s defenders for that accountability.
Your applications are acknowledged by world companies just like the NSA and ANSI. How do you preserve such a excessive customary whereas quickly evolving your curriculum to satisfy AI developments?
It’s one factor to maintain up with change. It’s one other to remain trusted whereas doing it. For us, high quality and agility should go hand in hand. That’s how we’ve earned and maintained recognition from world our bodies just like the NSA and ANSI.
We’ve a system that retains us grounded in analysis whereas staying open to innovation. Our world group tracks rising threats, analyzes new assault vectors, and displays developments in AI and cybersecurity. That intelligence feeds immediately into our curriculum pipeline.
However pace alone will not be sufficient. Each replace we make goes by way of a rigorous course of. We pilot take a look at it with seasoned professionals. We validate it in real-world environments like our cyber ranges. And we refine it primarily based on suggestions from those that reside within the trenches each day.
Take CEH and CPENT for instance. Integrating AI simulations into these applications was not only a technical determination. It was a mission-driven one. We needed to verify professionals had been being skilled in what they might really encounter not simply what idea says they could.
What retains our applications forward is that this fixed stability of innovation and integrity. We don’t simply train finest practices. We construct applications that practitioners, governments, and world enterprises can belief. And we plan to maintain it that approach.
What function does EC-Council envision enjoying in shaping world coverage or regulation round AI in cybersecurity?
Coverage is just as efficient because the perception it’s constructed on. At EC-Council, we consider cybersecurity regulation have to be knowledgeable by those that face threats each day. That’s the reason we actively interact with policymakers, schooling ministries, requirements our bodies, and intergovernmental organizations to assist form the frameworks that information the way forward for digital safety.
Our function will not be restricted to curriculum improvement. We’re a part of a broader dialogue on how nations and establishments can construct resilience, particularly as AI turns into extra deeply built-in into each offensive and defensive capabilities. We carry to the desk frontline intelligence from our huge community of cybersecurity professionals, menace researchers, and instructors throughout 145 international locations. This offers us a singular vantage level—rooted in sensible actuality and world scale.
We contribute to the event of nationwide workforce requirements, advise on rising AI competencies, and collaborate with governments to align cybersecurity schooling with nationwide safety targets. Our insights have helped outline the construction of public-private partnerships, capacity-building initiatives, and the function of steady studying in long-term resilience methods.
Whether or not by way of certifications, enterprise coaching, educational applications, or analysis partnerships, we’re shaping not simply how professionals are skilled, however how nations put together for the longer term. As AI continues to reshape the cyber area, our mission is to make sure coverage retains tempo with readability, foresight, and integrity.
Do you consider we’re approaching some extent the place conventional safety roles should evolve into “AI safety specialists”?
The shift is already occurring. AI is not a specialised subject sitting on the perimeters of cybersecurity. It’s changing into a part of each perform, from menace detection to identification administration, from purple teaming to vulnerability evaluation. Safety professionals can not afford to deal with AI as a separate talent set. It’s now foundational.
We’re seeing the early indicators of this transformation within the job market. New roles are rising AI safety researcher, artificial identification analyst, LLM immediate danger evaluator. These should not simply buzzwords. They’re alerts that organizations want individuals who perceive each cybersecurity and the mechanics of clever programs.
At EC-Council, we’re embedding AI throughout our complete certification ecosystem. It’s not reserved for superior learners. Even in foundational programs, professionals are launched to AI-driven threats and protection methods. We’re educating individuals the best way to suppose critically about machine studying pipelines, the best way to detect algorithmic bias, and the best way to stop AI from being turned towards the programs it was meant to guard.
The way forward for cybersecurity belongs to those that can bridge disciplines. As AI turns into embedded in each facet of digital infrastructure, our defenders should develop simply as refined. This evolution will not be optionally available. It’s the subsequent chapter within the story of cyber resilience.
You’ve emphasised supporting startups past main tech hubs—how are you guaranteeing entry to this funding and coaching throughout underrepresented areas?
At EC-Council, we’re continuously working to develop the attain of cybersecurity innovation. We’re seeing among the most promising concepts come from locations far outdoors conventional tech corridors, usually from professionals fixing pressing challenges in actual time, with deep native perception and restricted sources.
To assist this momentum, we’re working a $100 M world funding initiative that actively invests in cybersecurity startups demonstrating real-world influence, no matter location. We aren’t simply providing capital. We’re offering mentorship, technical steering, and entry to EC-Council’s world platforms; serving to startups develop their options and entry worldwide markets.
We’re giving precedence to ventures led by EC-Council-certified professionals, as they convey each technical experience and a powerful moral basis to their work. These people perceive the complexities of contemporary threats and are constructing options that align with trade wants and societal influence.
On the similar time, we’re growing entry to coaching in underserved areas. By means of our Licensed Cybersecurity Technician Scholarship Program, we’re opening doorways for aspiring professionals in international locations like Nepal and Malaysia. We’re additionally enabling learners world wide to interact with high-quality content material by way of our platforms, gaining the abilities they should contribute meaningfully to the sector.
We’re constructing an ecosystem that continues to develop by recognizing expertise wherever it exists and supporting innovation that makes a distinction globally.
What impressed EC-Council to launch a $100 million initiative now, and the way do you see AI altering the cybersecurity innovation panorama within the subsequent 5 years?
We launched $100 M world funding initiative as a result of the panorama has modified. Innovation is not confined to massive firms or educational labs. It’s being pushed by practitioners by individuals within the trenches who’re seeing new challenges and responding with daring, sensible options.
The pace and scale at which AI is remodeling cybersecurity is unprecedented. Over the subsequent 5 years, we count on to see main advances in predictive analytics, autonomous purple teaming, AI-native SOCs, and real-time determination engines. These should not science fiction. They’re already taking form in prototypes and early deployments.
However innovation alone will not be sufficient. It wants assist. That’s the reason we created this initiative to gasoline the subsequent technology of cybersecurity breakthroughs. We’re on the lookout for startups that mix technical excellence with deep mission focus. We need to again builders who perceive the issue from the within and are prepared to resolve it from the bottom up.
Our objective is to create a multiplier impact. We offer funding, mentorship, and world visibility. In return, we assist scale concepts that may strengthen protection programs worldwide.
This isn’t simply an funding. It’s a dedication to the way forward for cybersecurity. A future the place the most effective concepts get constructed, irrespective of the place they arrive from.
What recommendation would you give to younger professionals contemplating getting into the cybersecurity discipline right this moment—significantly these fascinated by AI?
Begin with curiosity. That’s a very powerful trait on this discipline. You don’t want an ideal resume or a conventional background. What you want is the drive to be taught, the self-discipline to maintain going, and the braveness to ask higher questions.
Cybersecurity is among the most significant careers you possibly can pursue. It isn’t nearly defending information. It’s about defending individuals, establishments, and the very material of our digital lives. And in case you are drawn to AI, that’s much more thrilling. We’re firstly of a brand new period the place clever programs will form how we defend every thing from private gadgets to nationwide infrastructure.
Dive into how fashions work. Break them. Repair them. Perceive how attackers exploit them and the way defenders can struggle again. Experiment. Study. Collaborate. This isn’t a solo journey. The most effective cybersecurity professionals work in groups, construct communities, and develop by sharing.
At EC-Council, we’ve constructed a path for each stage of that journey. Whether or not you might be simply beginning with hands-on labs or pushing your self in world competitions, there’s area for you right here. The world wants moral defenders who should not solely expert, however pushed by goal. If that sounds such as you, then welcome to a discipline the place you may make an actual influence.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to EC-Council.
